Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed an executive order in Tacoma on Monday to improve the state’s effort to help individuals make a successful reentry into their community when they leave prison. (Courtesy of governor’s office)
Gov. Jay Inslee issued an executive order Monday to deepen and expand Washington’s efforts to prepare individuals for successful reentry in communities upon leaving prison.
His order calls for developing “a comprehensive entry and exit process” tailored to each person’s needs in areas such as housing, employment, health care, substance use treatment, and mental health services.
It also seeks to ensure each person has a Washington identification card or driver’s license and information on how to access social services.
And it enlists Washington in a nationwide initiative known as Reentry 2030 that aims to reduce recidivism by boosting the successful reentry of those leaving state-run correctional facilities.
“This executive order is basically a public safety executive order,” Inslee told a large crowd gathered in William Philip Hall at the University of Washington Tacoma. It does so by committing the state to provide services needed to keep individuals from returning to prison, he said.